Bugs! HELP

[ConureLady]

I woke up this morning to fruit flies everywhere! I have a dinner party to host Thursday and I am going to have to spray the house with bug poison...

I dont know what to do with my parrots, its winter in Alaska and I cant just keep them in the garage with the door open, even though the garage is heated it will expose them to the cold air.

What can I do to make sure they are okay?

I have multiple rooms in the house, but I'm scared of hurting my fids.
Maybe I can put all of the birds into smaller cages and keep them in the truck??
how many hours should I wait before putting them back in the home?

 

[ConureLady]

oops, party is on Friday. Cant be rescheduled, its a business party.

Maybe i can put them in the garage, which is connected to the house by a door in the hallway, but maybe I can ducttape off the door???

 

[Riio]

Dont spray. Make some traps. Seriously this has worked for me. Apple Cider Vinegar. Pour some into a cup bowl etc. Cover with plastic wrap and poke holes in the top. Small holes, dont want them to escape! they love the Apple Cider Vinegar, they will go in and drown and cant get out with the plastic wrap on. Place them all over the house and ¡Viola! Gone! it takes a few days to end their cycle of life. But should be gone by friday. Put them back out after the party to get the new hatchlings. Some people say to put two drops of dish liquid in with the vinegar but you dont need it. Good luck, I hate those darn things! We were overrun with them this year!

 

[ConureLady]

Thank you. I'm going to 100% clean every dish in the kitchen, double bag any garbage in the garage, cover sink holes with trash bags (they can live in the pipes and come back) and set out traps.

 

[Riio]

Thank you. I'm going to 100% clean every dish in the kitchen, double bag any garbage in the garage, cover sink holes with trash bags (they can live in the pipes and come back) and set out traps.

Uugghh isnt it the truth, they can and will live anywhere! Some of my friends thought they only lived on fruit, and were confused when even after getting rid of all fruit on counters they were still around. :31:

 

[truste]

Oh no! Pest control can be an ordeal with parrots around. I was bitten countless times by mosquitoes because I refused to purchase any candles or fume/chemical emitting repellant.

Also try the traps that are a bug attracting light + coupled with fly paper. This one: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Manufacturing-FW-9-Fly-Trap/dp/B0006OIZN4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1350534039&sr=8-2&keywords=fly+web]Amazon.com: Fly Web Fly Trap: Home & Kitchen[/ame] works pretty well for my fruit flies, but you could probably make a cheaper homemade version with a lamp + fly paper. (they didn't work for my mosquitoes, but caught more fruit flies than I knew I had!)

Good luck!

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

I agree with everyone else. Please don't spray any poison around. The spray's residue gets on everything. I've heard many times that the cider vinegar thing written above works !! Please try it and anything else first -- What about those long sticky tape things that you can hang from your ceiling, or those clear plastic strips you can stick on little boxes and put them around the flies so they stick to the strips.

 

[BoomBoom]

Dont spray. Make some traps. Seriously this has worked for me. Apple Cider Vinegar. Pour some into a cup bowl etc. Cover with plastic wrap and poke holes in the top. Small holes, dont want them to escape! they love the Apple Cider Vinegar, they will go in and drown and cant get out with the plastic wrap on. Place them all over the house and ¡Viola! Gone! it takes a few days to end their cycle of life. But should be gone by friday. Put them back out after the party to get the new hatchlings. Some people say to put two drops of dish liquid in with the vinegar but you dont need it. Good luck, I hate those darn things! We were overrun with them this year!

That's awesome advice, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Any tips for spiders and ants? Distilled vinegar solution kills them but in some seasons, they will keep coming.

(Sorry to derail the thread and good luck on the party.)

 

[Customcasket]

The Apple Cider Vinegar works wonders!!!! I've used it multiple times.

My brother and I always make fun of our father and his "produce stand" worth of fruits and veggies he leaves on the counter and doesn't eat. The birds and I can only eat so much! My brother always asks him "Dad did you get FRUIT FLIES to go with the fruit you just bought?" Whenever we get the chance we always say Fruit Flies to make my father angry... we're terrible children. "Yeah, I cleaned the bathroom today and there were FRUIT FLIES in the tub." (even though there weren't) or our new one "Hmmmm, what to eat? Oh! I know! FRUIT FLIES cause we got enough of them!" The fruit flies are since gone and have been gone for a few weeks now, but we can't help ourselves.

For your party fruit flies aren't fun and games! I sure hope they're gone by then.

 

[MaraWentz]

For the drains pour bleach downward keep them covered unless being used. It took us 2 weeks to get rid if the fruit flies they came in off the bananas. We also attacked with a fly swatter covered in double sided sticky tape

 

[Jessxoxo]

Get some of those sticky bug strips those work then put cups of orange juice with a little bit of vinagar in it the cover wit seran wrap and put little holes in the top! It's a bad yr for them! Good luck!

 

[MonicaMc]

I used ACV with a couple of drops of dish soap to 'break' the surface... I didn't cover with plastic wrap... worked great!

This happened quite a while ago, and so glad I gave it a try! There are other methods, such as leaving used fruit on the counter, over-night, in a zip lock back... and first thing in the morning, zipping it close and tossing it... to repeat following night.

Wine also works wonders! If you don't mind sharing it with the fruit flies!


Have you had any luck getting rid of the bugs?



Don't know about spiders, but as far as ants go, there are some great ant traps you can buy at Walmart or Home Depot/Lowes (hard ware stores). We had "sugar ants" in the new place and the gel/liquid ant baits seemed to work wonders!

In our old place, I used Borax. (found at like a Walgreens) Sometimes I'd mix it with sugar. You're supposed to mix with sugar to make it more attractive to ants, but I found that the ants in the old place liked the Borax plain! The most often recommended method is a combination of sugar and Borax, add water, then dip cotton balls into the stuff. Make like a bowel of cotton balls dipped in the stuff, then leave out for the ants.

Another great method, for any walking bugs, is to get food grade Diatomaceous Earth (aka DT Earth/DE - found at a feed store for farm animals + dogs and cats). DE (made from silica) is healthy for us humans to eat in small amounts and if a bug walks across it, the tiny little shards slice open the bugs carapace which dries them out from the outside in. (doesn't sound so healthy now, does it? lol)


I haven't had a chance to try out the DE yet, since the liquid/gel traps worked so well on the ants.... but I do have some!

 

[Karigan]

Yup. and clean all the garbage cans and under the sink, and make sure that any fresh food in the bird's cage is removed in a timely manner.